What is the best rewards card right now?

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Prepharm1214 said:
Anyone partaking in this deal?
Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus & Premier Credit Cards 60K Points w/ $2k spent in 1st 3-Mos

4k spend in 3 months to get 120,000 RR points = $1,200 in gift cards or ~$1,900 on travel, PLUS companion status = bring a traveler with you for free on any flight through December of 2018
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I got the business card and the personal card
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I have the IHG chase card - the points it earns are not great - but with a $49 annual fee - you get a free night anywhere. I have had had it for 4 years and the average cost per night at the hotels i used it is ~$350 - great if you are already going to one of their hotels.
 
confettiflyer said:
Hmm, how are you figuring 120k miles? It's 60k for the plus card or the premier card...Chase usually will not approve for both simultaneously (unless you get one and a spouse gets one).

I have that card (it's my oldest tradeline, have had it since 2001 when it was with FirstUSA and called something else), since almost all of my travel is Southwest these days, it's a good card to have.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app
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I applied and was approved for both last night within 10 mins of each other
 
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Is anyone signing up for the amex delta platinum? $195 for 70k delta points and yearly renewal gets you one free companion round trip in coach. Seems like it would easily pay for itself.
 
PolarPop said:
Is anyone signing up for the amex delta platinum? $195 for 70k delta points and yearly renewal gets you one free companion round trip in coach. Seems like it would easily pay for itself.
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I did - I got a $100 credit on a flight as well as a bonus - how much do you have to spend to get the free companion ticket? for some reason I thought there was a minimum
 
Dred Pirate said:
I did - I got a $100 credit on a flight as well as a bonus - how much do you have to spend to get the free companion ticket? for some reason I thought there was a minimum
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From the terms it seems like you get it as long as you don't cancel the card at a year. If you spend 25k in a year you get extra points and some kind of elite status points
 
PharmDBro2017 said:
$700, right?
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depends how you use them, if you do it right, it is more like 1.7 cents per point. for example - with my AA points I booked a $900 round trip flight to Hawaii for 35k points = 2.6 cents per point.
 
Can some of the experts help me out here with regards to flight points?

I've been using my chase freedom card for the last 2-3 years and I haven't really paid attention to these credit card with flight points nor do I understand it completely.

What would be the best thing for me to do to get a cheap flight for a honey moon in the next year? I have no credit card w/ flight points....have great credit and spend decent amount on my current one.

How many points is typically needed for a free flight? I am so clueless about this.
 
dblock05 said:
Can some of the experts help me out here with regards to flight points?

I've been using my chase freedom card for the last 2-3 years and I haven't really paid attention to these credit card with flight points nor do I understand it completely.

What would be the best thing for me to do to get a cheap flight for a honey moon in the next year? I have no credit card w/ flight points....have great credit and spend decent amount on my current one.

How many points is typically needed for a free flight? I am so clueless about this.
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Go over two decimal places...that's typically the value in money. Right now I have 46,000 reward points on my Venture card. So I have $460 in credit.

For the best flights play around with matrix.itasoftware.com. Add all the nearby airports, do the calendar month search. You can find some wicked good deals on there.
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dblock05 said:
Can some of the experts help me out here with regards to flight points?

I've been using my chase freedom card for the last 2-3 years and I haven't really paid attention to these credit card with flight points nor do I understand it completely.

What would be the best thing for me to do to get a cheap flight for a honey moon in the next year? I have no credit card w/ flight points....have great credit and spend decent amount on my current one.

How many points is typically needed for a free flight? I am so clueless about this.
Click to expand...

Southwest Rapid rewards is 60-65 points per dollar.

40,000 point sign up bonus

1 point per dollar everywhere (~1.67% back)

2 points per dollar on Southwest purchases and Southwest partner purchases (hotels, rental cars)

3 points per dollar on certain restaurants (Rapid Rewards Dining)

Bonus points/dollar utilizing Rapid Rewards shopping for online shopping
 
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dblock05 said:
Can some of the experts help me out here with regards to flight points?

I've been using my chase freedom card for the last 2-3 years and I haven't really paid attention to these credit card with flight points nor do I understand it completely.

What would be the best thing for me to do to get a cheap flight for a honey moon in the next year? I have no credit card w/ flight points....have great credit and spend decent amount on my current one.

How many points is typically needed for a free flight? I am so clueless about this.
Click to expand...
How many chase freedom points do you have? You can just get chase saphire preferred which is free for the first year and transfer all your freedom points to the saphire. Then you can use the freedom points for flights. You also get 50k points for signing up and spending 4k in 3 months or something
 
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PolarPop said:
How many chase freedom points do you have? You can just get chase saphire preferred which is free for the first year and transfer all your freedom points to the saphire. Then you can use the freedom points for flights. You also get 50k points for signing up and spending 4k in 3 months or something
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i agree with above poster. open up the 2 versions of the SW cards (should be able to find 50k or 60k sign up links still out there on Reddit). Chase UR points are transferrable to SW. Depending on where u go, a round-trip on SW is usually 15-25k points if you book far enough in advance.
 
PharmDminus said:
i agree with above poster. open up the 2 versions of the SW cards (should be able to find 50k or 60k sign up links still out there on Reddit). Chase UR points are transferrable to SW. Depending on where u go, a round-trip on SW is usually 15-25k points if you book far enough in advance.
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you will also then qualify for the companion pass for a year then (1 year plus the rest of this year)

as far as points needed for a flight - it varies - from 15-20k on sw - to 25k minimum on other airlines to 75k to get to Tahiti (and up from there). Where are you looking at going on your honeymoon? That can help decide what airlines fly there and what miles you need.
 
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owlegrad said:
Wells Fargo is offering a card that has a $200 cash bonus for spending $1000 in the first three months. Seems like a great deal to me?
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I have vowed to never do business with wells fargo since they tried to screw me over on my first home purchase 14 years ago and have stuck to it.
 
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delta amex gold and platinum offering solid sign-up bonuses until April. Citi Premier also back to 50k point bonus.
 
Uber Visa Card
  • 4% cash back on restaurants, take out, bars, ubereats
  • 3% cash back on hotel, air travel, home rentals
  • 2% cash back on all online purchases
  • $600 cell phone insurance on damage/theft if you pay the bill with this card (max 2 claim, $25 deductible) - they will drop this faster than Clinton's pants around interns
  • Up to a $50 credit for online subscription services after you spend $5,000 or more on your card per year
  • 1% on everything else
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • NO ANNUAL FEE, $100 bonus after spending $500 the first 90 days
Holly Sh1t. I am in for one...
 
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I have a Discover It Student Chrome Card.
It's pretty nice, not the best but I have earned a good little bit of cashback already in the first two statement periods
2% Cashback on Gas and Restaurant Purchases up to $1000/quarter
1% on everything else and any gas/restaurant purchases over $1000/quarter.
I also get all my cashback matched at the end of the first 12 statement periods.
I also get $20 cashback every school year that my GPA is 3.0 or higher for the next 5 years
The cool thing with the cashback on gas purchases is it counts everything you buy in a gas station as a gas purchase, so its a good little quirk for me as I buy drinks and candy etc in gas stations occasionally.
Nice little card for me, I think.
 
Citi premier card 60k points for 4k spend in 3 months

Citibank checking and savings 400$ bonus for 15k deposit, also offers 600$ for a 50k deposit although not as lucrative as the 400 offer if you factor in opportunity cost.

Citi double cash offering 150$ statement credit for 500$ spend in 3 months, 2% CB all purchases no annual fee.

Yes Citi has had my business lately lol
 
Momus said:
Uber Visa Card
  • 4% cash back on restaurants, take out, bars, ubereats
  • 3% cash back on hotel, air travel, home rentals
  • 2% cash back on all online purchases
  • $600 cell phone insurance on damage/theft if you pay the bill with this card (max 2 claim, $25 deductible) - they will drop this faster than Clinton's pants around interns
  • Up to a $50 credit for online subscription services after you spend $5,000 or more on your card per year
  • 1% on everything else
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • NO ANNUAL FEE, $100 bonus after spending $500 the first 90 days
Holly Sh1t. I am in for one...
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So you just buy gift cards on Amazon for the categories not listed and you can back door that 2% CB. Looks like Walmart online is included in this, too. Just shop online and do in store pickup and you're set. Between those two, you can buy just about anything at 2% back. Including groceries thanks to that awesome grocery shopping service Walmart offers.

This definately looks like a great option!
 
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WVUPharm2007 said:
So you just buy gift cards on Amazon for the categories not listed and you can back door that 2% CB. Looks like Walmart online is included in this, too. Just shop online and do in store pickup and you're set. Between those two, you can buy just about anything at 2% back. Including groceries thanks to that awesome grocery shopping service Walmart offers.

This definately looks like a great option!
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Just pair it with Citi double cash. Way easier. That would be a solid 2 card combo actually.
 
Anyone know of a good MasterCard rewards card? I’ve heard that visa has been getting aggressive with their fees. Visa is all I own so I want to diversify in case the situation turns against them.


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If you have a Samsung phone and can do the mag strip emulation on it, the best deal is still U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite® Card . 1000 points is worth $15. And you get 3% cash back on all mobile purchase apps (Apple Pay, Samsumg Pay, Google Pay). So it winds up being an effective 4.5% cash back. Samsung phones can emulate magnetic strips and can be used anywhere. There is a $400 annual fee, but you get $325 of that back in travel reimbursement.

That's way ahead of everyone else. Problem is you have to be a customer to get in on it and the nearest US bank is in Ohio...
 
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Chase Sapphire Reserve/Preferred. CSR/CSP acquired together = 100k UR points after meeting min spend. UR points value is very high if you travel.
 
every so often Marriott offers 100k bonus points after spending $3000 in 3 months (i used the card to purchase stuff for my parents and they just paid me back). ~$100 annual fee but it offers a free night every year to compensate.

your cheapest rooms (by Marriot standards these are sufficient in terms of quality) in los angeles and san diego go for 15k points, which is probably worth $120. calculations say that is ~$800/6 nights worth of Marriott hotel rooms free if you aren't the pickiest person in the world.

signed up for the offer in June but this is no longer available (75k bonus points offer presently exists). could come back sometime in the future. great card for those who like to travel. the card offers additional benefits not stated here
 
For those of you that use Amazon there is an amazon card I just got that gives you 5% back on all purchases. For everything else I use my capital one card that gives me 1.5% back on everything.
 
For those on the West Coast, there is a card that gives 3% back on all purchases. It's offered by Discover through the JCB subsidiary.
 
I went looking for a link... looks like it is closed for new people signing up. So it was NOT to good to be true, just "too good to last."

The name of the card is the JCB Marukai card.
 
mentos said:
Agreed that Chase Saphire Reserve is the best deal with 50k ultimate rewards bonus. They only allow one Sapphire card now so you can't get both.

Get the Chase trifecta for the best value.
Trifecta: Sapphire Reserve, Ink Preferred, Freedom Unlimited
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You can if you apply for and are approved for both on the same day since it will count as just one credit report pull. Understandably not everyone wants to try for it, but there's info on "CSR/CSP double dipping" for those interested. Otherwise, agreed on the trifecta.
 
Modest_anteater said:
For everything else I use my capital one card that gives me 1.5% back on everything.
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If you only want cash back, why don't you get Citi Double Cash for 2%? That is still dismal compared to the ultimate rewards cards, but 33.3% higher than 1.5%.
 
mentos said:
If you only want cash back, why don't you get Citi Double Cash for 2%? That is still dismal compared to the ultimate rewards cards, but 33.3% higher than 1.5%.
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Well the thing is every card I have found that is higher than 1.5% has an annual fee with it. I will not do annual fees at all. I'm going to research Citi Double Cash. What are the "ultimate rewards" cards?
 
PharBeyondDriven said:
For those on the West Coast, there is a card that gives 3% back on all purchases. It's offered by Discover through the JCB subsidiary.
Click to expand...
Yeah man. i found your card. It was too good to be true. It has been discontinued....

Marukai Premium JCB Card Review – 3% Cash Back On All Purchases
This card is no longer accepting new applications. It looks like JCB will end all US operations in May.

The JCB Maurkai card earns up to 3% cash back on all purchases, it’s only available to people in the following states: California, Nevada, Oregon, Hawaii or Washington. In this review we will be looking at how to get the most out of this card.
 
Modest_anteater said:
Well the thing is every card I have found that is higher than 1.5% has an annual fee with it. I will not do annual fees at all. I'm going to research Citi Double Cash. What are the "ultimate rewards" cards?
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No annual fee for Citi Double Cash. I have it but it's sock drawered cause I get way more value from travel cards.

Pretty much any card with a 50k points sign up bonus is worth $500-1000 easily. Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Thankyou Premiere, Capital One Venture. If you don't want to pay the annual fee, get the bonus and cancel the card before the first year ends. Then move onto the next card. Just go down the list of top travel cards at Nerdwallet or thepointsguy. "Churn". These cards come with benefits like lounge passes (free booze and food at airports), TSA-pre reimbursement (shorter security line, don't have to take off shoes or take out laptop), travel credits, primary car rental insurance, many more. Read up at ThePointsGuy, Flyertalk, etc.

Cash back cards generally have no sign on bonus or a paltry one. The big money is in the sign on bonuses. For example, spend $4000 on Citi Double Cash and you'll get a measly $80. Spend $4000 on Chase Sapphire Reserve and you'll get 50k ultimate rewards which are worth about $1000 in airfare. Even after you get the bonus, points are worth 1.5 cents a piece but you'll get 3x points on dining/travel expenses. So if you spend $1 at Wendys, you'll get 3 ultimate reward points which are worth 4.5 cents. Compare that to the 2 cents you'd get from Citi Double Cash.

If you don't travel then a 2% cash back card is better than nothing I guess. But if you don't travel, you're not living.
 
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mentos said:
No annual fee for Citi Double Cash. I have it but it's sock drawered cause I get way more value from travel cards.

Pretty much any card with a 50k points sign up bonus is worth $500-1000 easily. Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Thankyou Premiere, Capital One Venture. If you don't want to pay the annual fee, get the bonus and cancel the card before the first year ends. Then move onto the next card. Just go down the list of top travel cards at Nerdwallet or thepointsguy. "Churn". These cards come with benefits like lounge passes (free booze and food at airports), TSA-pre reimbursement (shorter security line, don't have to take off shoes or take out laptop), travel credits, primary car rental insurance, many more. Read up at ThePointsGuy, Flyertalk, etc.

Cash back cards generally have no sign on bonus or a paltry one. The big money is in the sign on bonuses. For example, spend $4000 on Citi Double Cash and you'll get a measly $80. Spend $4000 on Chase Sapphire Reserve and you'll get 50k ultimate rewards which are worth about $1000 in airfare. Even after you get the bonus, points are worth 1.5 cents a piece but you'll get 3x points on dining/travel expenses. So if you spend $1 at Wendys, you'll get 3 ultimate reward points which are worth 4.5 cents. Compare that to the 2 cents you'd get from Citi Double Cash.

If you don't travel then a 2% cash back card is better than nothing I guess. But if you don't travel, you're not living.
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The issue with the citi double cash is it is 1% on spent and 1% on paid so you are actually getting much less than 2% when you think of the time value and that 1% of 1% is less than 2%. I just signed up for the fidelity 2% card which seems pretty legit. The thing I hate with these cards that give a lot of percent back is that they are very picky when using them overseas or in different towns. For example when I visit Denver or LA my capital one will always get declined by my American Express seems to always work like a charm even if I get the zipcode incorrect.
 
If you put more than $11,800 on your credit card, the Alliant Credit Union VISA Signature cash back card is the current king of no category cash back. It's 2.5% cash back with a $59 annual fee plus a first year 3% cash back, no annual fee promotion.
 
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Modest_anteater said:
The issue with the citi double cash is it is 1% on spent and 1% on paid so you are actually getting much less than 2% when you think of the time value and that 1% of 1% is less than 2%.
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Huh? I'm not sure what you mean. If you spend $100, you'll get $1 when your statement closes and $1 after you pay it. That's $2 which is 2%. I have no idea what you mean by 1% of 1%. You can automate payments and it takes seconds to cash out your rebate so not sure what time value you lose?
 
Monsterdaddy said:
If you put more than $11,800 on your credit card, the Alliant Credit Union VISA Signature cash back card is the current king of no category cash back. It's 2.5% cash back with a $59 annual fee plus a first year 3% cash back, no annual fee promotion.
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Yeah dude if your paynig an annual fee you are doing it wrong....
 
mentos said:
2.5% with $59 annual fee (the first year of 3% is free) easily beats your 1.5% from capital one.
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well I think it depends on how much you spend. What would be the break even point fora 59 annual fee?
 
Modest_anteater said:
well I think it depends on how much you spend. What would be the break even point fora 59 annual fee?
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Come on, this is an easy math problem.

$59/.025 = $2360/year to break even. That's not even a paycheck's worth of spending.
 
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mentos said:
Come on, this is an easy math problem.

$59/.025 = $2360/year to break even. That's not even a paycheck's worth of spending.
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thanks
BenJammin said:
This post is a great example of someone who doesn't know how to maximize reward spending
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This post is a great example of someone who doesn't know how to not be a jerk on the internet.
 
awval999 said:
The best cards have annual fees.

If you just want a cash back card get the Citi Double Cash for 2%. It's as simple as that.
Click to expand...
amex hilton aspire sign-up bonus is now up to 150k
 
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